New pastor at Osoyoos United Church thrilled to be living, preaching in Osoyoos

John Helps could count the number of times he attended church on one hand when one of his best friends called him out of the blue to accompany her to church.

It was an experience that changed his life forever.

“I felt a connection among the people in that church that I felt was missing in my life,” he said. “My only experience with church up until that point was at Christmas you would go shopping and then go to church for Christmas mass … that was it.”

Helps was recently hired as the new pastor at the Osoyoos United Church and he is looking forward to a long and rewarding career providing spiritual guidance and leadership to the congregation at the local church.

After working for many years in a rewarding career as a social worker, where he worked regularly with street people and First Nations poor in Edmonton, Helps said he felt spiritually empty and that visit to church awoke something inside of him.

However, he didn’t find the meaningful connection he was seeking in the Catholic church.

He kept attending other churches until he found what he was looking for at a United Church in Edmonton.

“Different denominations share different core values … and I finally found the core values I believed in through the United Church,” he said.

He joined Robertson-Wesley United Church and within months knew his calling was to leave civilian life and pursue a career as a minister, he said.

“I met with my family and I asked the minister for advice,” he said. “I was informed the United Church in Canada has a long process for joining the ministry,

“It was an 18-month process and I had to meet with the congregation to discuss the process further and I was finally approved.”

Helps attended the Centre of Chaplain Studies in Winnipeg and has spent the past three years completing his studies.

This included one year working in social ministry at the Inner City Pastoral Ministry in Edmonton, where he continued his work with inner city youth and First Nations clients. During his second year, he worked at McClure United Church in Edmonton’s rough northeast side during what is called “my education and liturgical year of study.”

He’s now in year three of his studies – called his “pastoral year.”

He saw an opening for a new pastor at Osoyoos United Church and sent his resume several months ago.

His mother Millie lives in Oliver and he had been on numerous summer vacations to the Osoyoos area as a child and the idea of living and working in this region was very enticing, said Helps.

He went through the interview process and was offered the job and began his new ministry at Osoyoos United Church on May 1.

“I literally finished my former job in Edmonton on Friday and began my new job in Osoyoos on the Monday,” he said.

He has thoroughly enjoyed his short time in Osoyoos and is looking forward to a long and productive run as pastor of Osoyoos United Church, he said.

“My goal is to be here awhile,” he said. “It’s a beautiful community to live in and I know I’m blessed to have been selected to come here.

“I want to provide the congregation with solid leadership and take the church where the congregation wants it to go. I do plan on being here for at least several years and then I will go where the Holy Spirit takes me. I plan on being a minister for at least 25 to 30 years and I can’t think of a better place to be right now than here in Osoyoos, but you never know what’s going to happen.”

Helps said he’s come a long way from working as a fraud investigator as a young man to United Church pastor.

“I quit a job making $22.50 an hour for a job that paid me $9 an hour as a youth worker and I never regretted it,” he said. “I got to work with inner city youth and First Nations people and made a real difference in their lives and that gave me a great deal of satisfaction.”

His need for spiritual satisfaction led him to the ministry and his new job in Osoyoos and he’s very excited about what the future holds, he said.

“There’s no place I would rather be,” he said. “We have a great congregation and active church community and I’m really looking forward to leading this church and continuing to do the great community work that has become synonymous with Osoyoos United Church.”

Helps admitted that he has enjoyed moving to a warmer climate after spending most of his life growing up and working in Edmonton.

The natural beauty of Osoyoos and the entire Okanagan Valley is astounding and he now realizes why so many people from all over Canada – and many other parts of the world – want to move and live here.

When he’s not at the church, Helps said he plans on getting involved in communty activities and trying to improve the life for members of the community who don’t belong to the United Church.

 

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times